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- Historically, Kenya has been privy to divisive politics rising from periodical general elections allegedly marred by rigging and subsequent politically-motivated violence. Kenya has an extensive record of ethnically mobilized political violence and the exacerbation of militias supported by politicians. Kenya's tribal war traces back to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, where parties were formed based on one's tribe. Detrimental effects of the disputed general elections have been witnessed since time immemorial, that is since 1997, when Kenya's ruling party, Kenya African National Unity (KANU) unleashed terror in order to coerce the citizens and to forge forward their devolution agenda. The Digo Community was mobilized to fight against the peoples of the Western and Central Part of Kenya. This resulted in the displacement of more than 10,000 people and the death of 104 innocent civilians. Reports from the judiciary indicated the existence of vigilante groups funding the then-ruling party led by Daniel arap Moi. Key among them was Jeshi La Mzee. There was a resurgence of conflict between the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin that persisted until 2013. In 2002, the National Rainbow Coalition, led by Mwai Kibaki, established peace in 2005 when a referendum was held to vote for a newly drafted constitution. People across the divide felt that the national coalition was divided by ethnic lines. This saw the Luo, led by Raila Odinga, break away to form the Orange Democratic Movement. The events that followed would see Kenya sink into a deep economic crisis as a result of the 2007 and 2008 general elections. The presidential elections were hotly contested between two main opponents, Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. However, Odinga disputed the results of the elections that declared Mwai Kibaki as the winner. He insisted that they were marred with mass rigging, theft and inconsistencies. This sparked what Kenyans would refer to as exemplifying Kenya as "a cradle of violence" as the elections plunged Kenya into periods of bloodshed and mass killings of innocent Kenyans. Animosity and enmity were at the peak along different ethnic divides. The observers, like the European Union, noted discrepancies in the election result, which ragged fury in people of the Luo Community who were ardent supporters of Raila Odinga a.k.a. Baba. This period saw vigilante groups like Mungiki, American Maine, China Group clashing and terrorizing innocent civilians. More than 650,000 persons were displaced and1,300 people lost their lives, rendering this post-election skirmish the single most detrimental in Kenyan history. The International Criminal Court then instituted charges of crime and inciting of violence on six Kenyans, widely referred to as the "Ocampo Six", among them Uhuru Kenyatta and the incumbent deputy president of Kenya William Ruto. The preceding elections did not prove different, the general elections in Kenya in 2013 were bitterly contested by two rivals Uhuru Kenyatta of The National Unity and Raila Odinga of the Coalition of Reforms and Democracy. Uhuru was declared the winner, which Raila disputed due to the involvement of the Bio-metric Voter System, which he highlighted its drawbacks. CORD was calling for reforms in the conduct of elections to be free and fair and hence challenged Uhuru's election in the Supreme Court, which later upheld Uhuru's election. 2017 saw the same contestants face each other in an election that was widely presumed to have already been predetermined since the electoral systems were hacked. The Chief Technological Officer at the independent and boundaries electoral commission IEBC, Chris Msando, was murdered in cold blood, in a plot seemingly an assassination. Tension rose and the outcome of the election was disputed by the NASA coalition led by Raila Odinga and Lawyers like Miguna Miguna, as they felt the electoral commission's systems were compromised and hacked. The NASA Coalition proceeded to court to seek for the nullification of the elections, which the Supreme Court of Kenya led by chief justice declared null and void. A second election held, saw the NASA coalition not participate in them not until their irreducible minimums were met, hence went in favor of Kenyatta who garnered 98% of the vote. This fueled a period of unrest, with Odinga declaring himself as the People's President, leading to warring factions between the supporters of Uhuru and Odinga. This was followed by mass shootings in opposition areas, in the slums and Kisumu. These events gave rise to the now famous household name "The March 9th Handshake", that brought together two national leaders who put their differences aside to serve Kenyans, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Raila Odinga. (en)
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